The world of football fans rarely allows for grey areas. Your favorite team is either the GOAT or trash. Top-tier or finished. One second you're the champions-elect. The next, you're relegation fodder.
The truth is, some teams are just fine. Some teams are meh. And Liverpool is one of those teams.
The averages that make Liverpool average
Their form suggests they’re actually worse than average. After Liverpool’s first draw of the season on Wednesday, they’re 4-1-9 in their last 14.
Upon closer examination, though, you’ll find they're 11-1-10 on the season (if you include the Community Shield, which I do). They’ve scored and conceded the same number of goals in those 22 games: 35. They’re 8th in the Premier League and 13th in the Champions League — more or less mid-table. Not horrible, but certainly nothing the reigning champions of England should be patting themselves on the back about.
Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland at Anfield was a microcosm of that mediocrity. When I reflected on the game hours after the full-time whistle, I struggled to think of many things Liverpool did really well or really poorly.
The lows and highs from the Sunderland performance
Because the scoreline often dictates how fans perceive a performance, and because — again — the world of football fans is marked by extremes and absolutes, I’m guessing most Liverpool fans are much more pessimistic than I am about the game.
Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of things to be bummed out about. You could point to more predictable wing play from Cody Gakpo, who cut in on his right one too many times for Arne Slot’s liking and got himself hooked at halftime. You could highlight the team's ineffectiveness without the ball, uncommitted to pressing in sync or sitting in the shape.
Personally, I was most disappointed in our leadership on the night, as the old guard of Alisson, van Dijk, and Salah all fell below the levels we know they can reach — the levels that made us champions. Without our talismans making a difference, there’s little separating us from the Sunderlands of the world.
There were some okay things, too. Slot’s trusty midfield three of Gravenberch, Mac Allister, and Szoboszlai dictated proceedings for the most part, helping us accrue a little over two-thirds of the possession. We registered 23 shots to their 9 and 1.60 xG to their 0.77. It took a deflected long-range effort for Sunderland to break the deadlock on 67 minutes.
0.02(xG) pic.twitter.com/CjPZTLQhiT
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) December 3, 2025
Outside of that, the biggest chance we conceded came from goalkeeper Roefs’ long ball to Isidor in the fourth minute of stoppage time, whose effort was blocked brilliantly by Chiesa.
All in all, though, nothing got you off your seat. The game was a scrappy slug fest with few moments of true quality from either side. We didn’t offer our opposition much, but we didn’t create much ourselves. When you’re Liverpool, you’re at Anfield, and you’re the title holders, sorry, but that’s not good enough.